Mad Men - Season 5 - _verified_

But the audience knows the adage: "This is America. You don’t like the ending, change the channel." Don doesn’t love Megan; he loves the idea of Megan. He loves that she is good with his children. He loves that she is a natural in advertising (the brilliant "Why I’m Quitting Tobacco" letter was her idea). However, when she abandons advertising for her true passion—acting—Don’s support crumbles. He didn't marry an actress; he married a wife. The season charts the slow, agonizing corrosion of a marriage built on a false premise.

We have to talk about the look of Season 5. Matthew Weiner and director Phil Abraham bathe the season in amber and shadow. The Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce offices feel claustrophobic, a gilded cage. The color palette shifts from the muted browns of the early 60s to the psychedelic oranges, pinks, and purples of the late 60s. It’s dizzying. It’s disorienting. Mad Men - Season 5

Don’s dream (Megan) is failing. His real life (Dick Whitman) is returning. But the audience knows the adage: "This is America